Hello Sandway, I am hoping that you and The Promotors guys can help me out here as I know that you lads went to many places in Yugoslavia which were way off the T.I.R. transit route.
On the Astran / Middle East thread a new Trucknet member was asking where in Bulgaria there was a Douglas Dakota D.C. 3 parked up next to a restaurant.
I remembered that it was in one of the first lay-bys after you went through the border coming out of Yugoslavia near Dimitrograd and going into Bulgaria at Gradinje.
I knew that I had seen a photo of it somewhere on Trucknet and after a lot of searching I came across this photo that was posted by a guy called Simon who drove for David Duxberry back in the eighties.
I shall add the Duxberry thread link as there are some cracking photos on it which a few lads might find interesting.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=80507&p=2141420&hilit=dakota#p2141420
Now getting back to the Dakota, on Simon’s photo it is marked Dakota Yugo so now it’s got me wondering if ever there was another Dakota restaurant where the Brit drivers used to park up. If there was another one somewhere in Yugo then I have a feeling that the Promotors guys would of stopped there or heard about it.
That photo also brought back another long lost memory for me because on one of my first trips somewhere on the continent, I can’t remember where it was but I was probably sat with a load of old drivers and a table full of empty beer bottles when they were discussing how that Dakota ended up there.
Now being a young fellow in my late twenties and being new to the job I always listened to the older experienced hands so when one of them explained to everybody that the plane had been doing a supply drop to The Chetniks or Tito’s partisans fighting the Germans in world war two then I am afraid to say that I believed him. It seemed plausible at the time that an aircraft could get stuck in the mud and be abandoned in a war zone.
So for nearly forty years I believed this story and didn’t think much about it, until that photo cropped up again a couple of days ago.
Now with the help of my friend Google I have to admit that I think that the guy whoever it was that night was doing a bit of leg pulling.
Something that I never thought about and like I said I never thought much about it was why was that Dakota painted silver and not camouflage or green. Also, where the Dakota is parked it’s in the middle of a mountainous region unless the pilot managed to land it on the road.
Why is it Bulgaria when Tito was operating up in Yugoslavia and I didn’t know until yesterday that hundreds of Dakotas were actually built in Russia.
Those old drivers eh, they certainly could spin a good yarn and I bet that everybody met one on their travels.
What I also found out which I thought was quite interesting was that two Bulgarian Mig fighters actually shot down an El -Al Super Constellation which was on a flight from London to Istanbul and had strayed out of Yugoslav air space.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Al_Flight_402
As the Promotors lads stayed at the Zagreb Motel quite often can you remember the mid air collision involving a British Airways Trident over Zagreb in 1976. I think that it was a World In Action or a Panorama programme which dramatized the events in 1979 so for some reason I used to wonder whereabouts the two planes actually crashed.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Zagr … _collision
It’s only today that I have found out that they actually crashed in Vrbovac about 20 miles from Zagreb and about 40 miles from Novo Mesto where we regularly used to deliver refrigerators to the Adria Caravan factory.
We had to clear customs in Zagreb at one time and then run up to the factory to off load but in later years they used to call a customs man out to come round to the factory to sort the paperwork out.
So if anybody can remember if there was another Dakota next to a restaurant in Yugoslavia then I would be really pleased to hear about it.
Regards Steve.
Am on the road and don’t have a smart phone. Almost like it was back when you were free to get on with the job. However, I have just got online at a French cafe and have found another Promotor driver from the 80’s via Facebook. His name is John Cox. I have pointed him in the direction of TNUk and hopefully we will hear from him sometime.
Got back home a couple of days ago after a 16 week trip to Spain. The most I did when on Promotor’s was eleven weeks but that was work of course. Weathers been great with only a couple of slightly soggy days. Wore shorts every day until back in France. Nothing exciting happened to comment on down there. At least I didn’t have to hear about Brexit which was a bonus. I was hoping to find our old driver Steve Smith who lives down there but I wasn’t near enough to the village where he and his wife live.
Been some interesting posts on here recently from mushroomman. Will see if theres anything I can add to them later. Took a few pics on the trip home in France which may be of interest. My MacBook Air has been playing up something cronic lately so yesterday I got into the machine and completely wiped the hard drive clean and downloaded the High Sierra operating system onto it. However, if this post comes out back to front you know I have screwed it up and made it even worse.
I shipped over Cherbourg/Poole, a journey of about four and a half hours. I had a cabin and as I lay in my bunk I thought back to the times I shipped over Zeebrugge/Dover all those years ago on the Townsend boats. Many times it was a night boat and after a meal it was off to the cabin to grab as much sleep as possible. However, we never got enough. As soon as we were near the South Goodwin lightship those immortal words were broadcast over the ships tannoy, “Point Alpha, Point Alpha” and the steward in charge of the cabins came round banging on the doors for us to vacate them as he wanted to clean up and remake the beds even though there was still forty minutes to go. The drivers, all bleary eyed, would then congregate back in the restaurant and drink tea or coffee until called to disembark. We would then drive through passport control and park up as near as possible to the customs building where we deposited our papers unless we were clearing forward. Often we were told to get our heads down back in the lorry as the customs men were very busy. Maybe we would return two or three hours later to hear those dreaded words, “they want an inspection drive, back on the bay”…AAAAAGH.
Have just found this photo, courtesy of Jason Stringfellow, of myself standing by an unsignwritten Scania unit CJN 287X in about 83. Obviously somewhere hot I have no idea when or where the picture was taken. However, I would like to think those swimming trunks were replaced soon afterwards as I have another photo from 80 of me wearing them by the pool in the British Embassy residence compound in Jeddah.
A collection of photos has just surfaced from the mid to late 70’s to early 80’s. Mainly M/E they were taken by Jeff Stringfellow, who sadly is no longer with us, and belong to his son Jason and other family members. Jason is happy for me to post them here on Trucknet UK and I will put them on the Promotor thread. I am still trying to gather information concerning the photos but let me just say that I posted a year or two back an article about a trip I did to Baghdad in 79. It was on page 7 and 8 of this thread and was mainly to do with waiting for a ferry in Volos en-route to Tartous. Jeff Stringfellow whom I met there and got on very well with and we ended up taking a few pics of each other. They will be included. Many of Jeffs photos are not of the highest quality but they are still of great interest so I intend to post them all.
There are a number of photos of Jeff, his wife and three children taken during a trip to Tehran in about 78. That must have been some undertaking but according to Jason the trip went well.
The photos will appear in no particular order but any comments will be much appreciated.
Found the thread sandman .and thankyou for posting and sharing my dads photos .jeff stringfellow .hope many people remember him and the great memories youve all been through .
Some more Jeff Stringfellow photos. The one of Jeff, picture two, was taken on board the Volos to Tartous ferry. Behind him to his right is my trailer loaded with two JCB tractors bound for Baghdad. I fairly sure I took this picture on Jeff’s camera. Also note how close all the lorries are. Must have had us pulling our mirrors in.
Yes Robert, I agree. It proves there are still photos to be seen and stories to be told. Many thanks to Jeff but more so to Jason his son for allowing us to view this little bit of transport nostalgia. There are not masses of photos but I will try and post them all over the next few weeks.
Jason. I trust its still ok for me to post your photos. If you would rather do it yourself please let me know. If you want to do that then please feel free to use this Promotor thread. Please bear in mind that whoever posts the photos your recollections of those past times are very important so feel free to join in as you do on Facebook.
According to Wikipedia the first demonstrations against the Shah of Persia took place in October 1977 in Tehran. These were peaceful but by January 1978 the mood in the country was changing and demonstrations appeared in other areas of Iran and were becoming more violent but still the Shah and the police and army who supported him had the situation under control. However, from August to December the demonstrations became increasingly violent and the Shah and those supporting him lost control. On the 16th January 1979 the Shah left Iran and on the 1st February Ayatollah Khomeini, made his way slowly down the steps from the aircraft that had flown him back to Iran, to the adulation of the masses, mainly composed of the poor and the clerics but also to the trepidation of those that opposed him.
And according to Jason Stringfellow it was during these troubled times in Iran that his father Jeff decided to take his wife, daughter and two sons on holiday. So what you may say. Nothing wrong with dipping your toes in the brinney in Skegness or even Southend. Everyone is entitled to a holiday, at least once a year. Well Jeff had other plans. He took his family to Tehran. They didn’t fly there. Jeff put them in his lorry and they drove there and back. All five of them crammed into a lorry belonging to Arthur G Evison Ltd, incidentally, a company mushroomman was asking for information on three years ago, of Radcliffe on Trent. According to Jason, who was only seven or eight at the time and the youngster, the lorry was a MAN and the trip took place in 78. I assume it was in August and the school holidays. What stories those three children must have had to tell their mates upon their return. Of course Jeff must have asked Arthur for permission to take his family with him. Otherwise can you imagine being unable to get into Iran at Bazargan and having to ring Arthur and say “they won’t let me in Arthur cos I got the wife and kids with me. What shall I do”!!!. I see that Arthur wound up his Transport business in February 1983.
It seems sleeping arrangements during the trip for the family were well thought out by Jeff. The two boys slept opposite ends on one bunk whilst mother and daughter did the same on the other. Jeff made a bed up across the seats. Even so didn’t leave a lot of room to have a scratch during the night. According to Jason they booked into the ‘Harem Hotel’ in Istanbul for a night or two. It seems Jeff’s wife did some washing when possible on the way down. This was fine until another driver reversed over her bucket one day. Jason reckons she didn’t see the funny side of it. When they arrived in Tehran they went to the Davies Turner yard and made good use of the swimming pool. Luckily for us Jeff took some photos of the trip and although he died a few years back the photos remain with the family.
It seems all was quiet on the ground in Iran during their trip. No demonstrations that I’ve heard about and the family returned safely but soon after Iran became a no go area. I don’t know the chronological order of events at that time but if Jeff was in Tehran in August and his next trip could have been October or November just as the situation there was getting out of control. There was a mass exodus of lorries and drivers and Jeff told me he was the last British driver to get out. I assume he meant from the Davies Turner yard. Once out of Tehran the journey back to Bazargan was uneventful but the border post was heaving due to the number of lorries there. Once back in the UK Jeff was asked to return to Iran to bring back a lorry that had been abandoned there. Now you may think this was a crasss idea but Jeff said OK. Foolhardy or not it certainly was a courageous thing to do. He flew to Tehran on what turned out to be one of the last flights before the airport was closed as the Iranian Revolution really took hold. He made his way to the Davies Turner yard but it seems the lorry he was to bring back to the UK was badly shot up and couldn’t be saved. Jeff was stuck. He couldn’t fly or drive out in the lorry. He was there for six weeks during which two Iranian guys looked after him and kept him safe. Contact was made with the British Embassy and they finally helped him leave the country. I don’t know by what means he left.
Hopefully Jason can fill in the many blanks in this short narrative.
If we move on a few months to the third week of March 1979 and you read the story I posted on page 7 of this Promotor thread you will see that I met Jeff in Volos, by that time he was working for David Duxbury. We both waited a week for a ferry to Tartous and were together for about twelve days. We split up just north of Damascus as I turned off for Baghdad and he went straight on to Saudi. I met him once more a year later in the National in Belgrade. He and another driver called Mick were after Iraqi visas. That was the last time I saw him. I did use the search engine here on Trucknet UK to try and find him a couple of years ago and found somebody had reported he had died.
Welcome back Brian, 
and thanks to Jason for sharing his story and photos with us. It must of a been a wonderful and exciting journey for all the family.
Jason or his mum might remember seeing the swimming pool from their room in the Mocamp.
Was this the photo that I was asking about 
I can’t remember who originally posted the photo so the credit goes to them.
Regards Steve.
Hello Steve. I think you were asking if anyone had any information about the company Arthur G Evison and yes, I also saw that photo of one of their lorries. I copied it a couple of days ago with the idea of reposting it on here. Well, even though its the same photo as you’ve just posted my copy has been ruined. You can see why below.
Here are some more of Jeff Stringfellows photos. These are, I believe, mostly taken in the Davies Turner yard in Tehran late 78 as the demonstrations against the Shah were reaching a climax. Most of the lorries headed up to the border at Bazargan and Jeff was the last to go. He told me he saw terrible things, of people being shot and cars set on fire as he drove out of the city. I’m not sure of the order of events as far as Jeff’s employment was concerned at that time but he took the family to Tehran in, I think, Aug 78 whilst working for Evison but the photos of this later trip shows him working for Duxbury. What is also unclear is why, after getting home from the Duxbury trip he immediately flew back to Tehran for Eviison. Maybe because of the troubles in Iran Duxbury had nothing on for him.
There are some great photos there Brian so thanks to you and Jason for showing them.
I don’t know if you ever read this story about a trip to Iran that was posted on Trucknet many years ago from Trevor Taylor a.k.a. Past Trucking. To me it was one of those very interesting stories that are always worth reading again.
With many thanks to Past Trucking for taking the time to write it all down.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=27498&p=391005#p391005
Jeff Stringfellow flew back into Tehran at the height of the Iranian Revolution late 78 on one of the last flights before the airport was closed as it was to dangerous for airlines to fly there. His mission was to retrieve a Arthur G Evison MAN that had been left there by, I assume, another driver who left in a hurry. Unfortunately, by the time Jeff got there the lorry had been shot up and couldn’t be saved. He was now in a very dangerous position unable to get out of Tehran. He was looked after by two Iranian men until the British Embassy helped him escape.
The first photo shows the two men who looked after Jeff. The remainder of the photos show the extent of damage done to the Davies Turner complex and surrounding buildings after they were ransacked by the Iranian mobs.
For those who are sceptical of his exploits please bear in mind the camera never lies. We have a pictorial record from August 78 through to March 79. From the trip he took his family to Tehran to the trip when I met him in Volos. I found Jeff to be a quiet honest and helpful guy who when he told me of some of his exploits wasn’t boasting just giving me the facts.
I thank Jason, his son, for providing much of the information as well as the photos for these posts. There are still more general photos in Jason’s possession. I will post them shortly. If there are any glaring mistakes or omissions Jason please feel free to put the record straight.
mushroomman:
There are some great photos there Brian so thanks to you and Jason for showing them.
I don’t know if you ever read this story about a trip to Iran that was posted on Trucknet many years ago from Trevor Taylor a.k.a. Past Trucking. To me it was one of those very interesting stories that are always worth reading again.
With many thanks to Past Trucking for taking the time to write it all down.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=27498&p=391005#p391005
That was a great story Steve. I hadn’t seen it before. Many thanks for reposting it.
Do you feel a bit apprehensive when its time for that dreaded trip to the dentist. If so look away now!
The attached photos show Jeff Stringfellow and a fellow driver having a gold tooth fitted. I don’t know where this took place but somebody suggested Tartous. I always had a shave, done with an open razor, there, that was bad enough but having a gold tooth fitted! Forget it. Seems though Jeff’s tooth was still there when he died many years later.
Morning mushroomman. Cant add much to your Dakota thread. Sure I saw it every time I passed by but it seems my inquisitiveness hadn’t surfaced much then. However, concerning the plane crash near Zagreb, although I know vey little about it, I am sure the daughter of a friend of my parents died in that crash.
Some more of Jeff Stringfellows photos. The first few are taken in Davies Turners yard in Tehran.
Robert
